1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing chips of bananas which are properly expanded without impairing the inherent taste and color of the fruit and which are good in texture, light and crisp.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, there have been developed a variety of snack foods. For this reason, there have been conducted various studies and research into drying techniques, which are an important aspect of producing snack foods. As typical examples, there may be mentioned such drying techniques as hot-air drying, microwave drying, freeze-drying, deep-frying, and drying under a reduced pressure. Moreover, there is known a method for expanding and drying foods in which a material to be dried is exposed to the flow of superheated steam for a short period of time and the superheated and dehydrated material is then rapidly discharged into the air to cause expansion thereof. However, the snack foods produced according to this conventional drying method have a defect of producing a smell of superheated material due to the heat during drying or cause the loss and degeneration of the taste thereof.
The applicant of this invention has already developed a method for drying foods effective in practicing a method for producing snack foods which makes it possible to eliminate the foregoing drawbacks (see Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (hereunder referred to simply as "J.P. KOKAI") No. 59-159739). This method comprises quickly reducing the pressure applied to foods such as shaped dough mainly composed of vegetables, fruits or the like, or solids obtained by processing or cooking such shaped material, at a rate sufficient to expand these foods and to freeze the moisture in the foods, heating the foods to dry the same after the moisture therein is frozen and then returning the pressure to normal pressure.